Traffic light



April 3, 1928. 1,664,536

N. s. BEMENT TRAFFIC LIGT Filed Aug 24, 192s amm Newton 5. Bement Sum/nu' 45 lights.

for a driving light on country roads or Uhu-'ran 'STATI-Es" [1,664,536 PATENT OFFICE.

NEWTON S. IBEMENT, OFANN ABBOR, MICHIGAN.

TRAFFIC y LIGHT.

Application led August 24, 19,26. Serial No. 131,288.

' I -In the operation of automobiles much dificulty is experienced in obtainin a 'satisfactory scheme for lights which wi l be suitable for driving both in town where the traffic is heavy and the streets are lighted and also in the country where entirely different conditions-prevail, as is 4well understood. The headlight in common use with parabolic reflector and plain glass flens is .of Figure 7,

perhaps as satisfactory as anything devised outside 'of cities and when not in. traiic. A car equipped with such lightsgshould valso be equipped with dimming devices sulcient-- ly .effective to thorough dim the lights when on lighted streets-in -the city and when meeting machineson countryyroads so that they may be made absolutely non-glaring. Such dimming, however, AJrenders the lam ineicient since when dim there is not su j cient light for safety in driving.

The object of my said invention, therefore, is to provide alight which I term a tralic light, consisting of a lamp to be placed referably on a forward part of. the left ront fender or nearly in that position, and so `wired that once the master switch pontrol-V ling it from the dash has been connected,

a second switch in the circuit is closed4 automatically withpthe dimming of the headlights.

A further object of my invention is to construct such a device which will project a powerful light, sharply defined and free from glare or-side rays. Another object is to construct the traffic-light so that the ra s lprojected ma be horizontal to illuminatet e full width o the'street or roadway, or, ro-

- tated sufliciently to illuminate the side of the light` attached to the fender of an autoroadway. Another object is to prevent any rays from projecting above the center line of the headlight when in th horizontal positio'n. Still another object is to provide for the. operation .of the traffic light in conjunction with the dimming. of the ordinary head- Referring to the acoompan ing drawings, which are made a part hereo and on which similar numerals designate similar parts in the several views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a' headmobile,

Figure 2, a front elevation of the same, Figure 3, a detail front elevation on a' larger scale,

. Figure 4, a longitudinal section through the headlight and its mounting.

Flgure 5, an elevation similar to Figur 3 with the body revolved 90 degrees,

Figure 6, a detail perspective of the frame .for supporting the deliectors,

Figure 7, an elevation of one of the delectors,

Figure 9, a diagrammatic front' elevation of van automobile equipped with .my improved traiic light, and

Figure 10, awiring diagram. j

In the drawings, the numeral -10 denotes the automobile equipped with the usual headlights 11, and 12 denotes the left front fender upon which is mounted the traliclight whlch is composed of a projector 14 Aand a signal or running llight l5. I have f ound by experience that the ordinary headlight with parabolic reflector and plain lens is the most satisfactory driving light when outside of the cityand when not in tralic, l however, a car equipped with my improved traiiic4 light should also be equipped with a dimming device for the headlights arranged v in such a way that when the headlights are dimmed the traiic light is lighted. i

Thel projectorI comprises the parabolicsreflector 16 and lamp 17 of 'the usual construction. The reflector 16 is secured by bolts 18' F iv'ure 8, a detail section on the Aline 8--8 to the back 19 ofthe` projector which is flanged to fit over'the rear end of acylindrical body 'portion 2O which extends a considerable distance forward of the front of the reflector when assembled. The forward end is closed by a ring 21 which also confines the lens 22 which is preferably a disk of plain glass. As ameans of projecting a powerful light straight ahead without permitting any glare or side rays, I employ a series of delectors 23 securely mounted in a skeleton frame 24 located within the` cylindrical body portion 20 between the front edge of the re- {iector 16 and the lens 22. The skeleton frame is made of a stamping of sheet metal having a ring`25 with extensions'26 extending at fright an les therefrom with thelr ends 27 again gent at right angles and bolted to a separate ring 28 forming a cage in which the defiectors are secured by wiring as shown in Figure 6, to the rings 25 and 28 and by soldering. Each deliector com rises a sheet of extremely thin hardened a uniinum or brass, approximately 1/100 of an with their concave surfaces down inch or less in thickness and of a mathematically predetermined length, slightly curved in clindrical form with its concave surface 29 highly polished and the convex surface treated with a. coating of metal filler 30 which renders it totally non-reflecting. The straight edges of each deflector is bent at approximately right angles as at 31 to strengthen thel plate.

Owing to the extreme plates 23 I find it. bestto curve them in the frame 24 by providing each plate with a loop of wire 23 in each corner, as shown in Fig. 6, which wires are passed through openings in the members 25 and 28 and secured by a drop of solder 5() pnt into the opening, (see Figure 6). The loose ends of the wires are then cnt off. The dcflectors are all of the same curvature` and of the same length axially, but owing to the cylindrical form of the body portion 20, they gradually diminish in width from the center towards the top and bottom as shown in Figure 5. In Figures 1, 2 and 3, the plates are shown approximately vertical, which owing to the coating of metal filler 30 on the convex side, direct all of 'the rays which strike the concave surface 29 to the right, the direct rays from the lamp 17 passing between the plates unobstructed and straight ahead. Thisposition of the plates illuminates the roadway from an imaginary line drawn straight ahead of the projector and to the right, but leaves the left side of the roadway dark.

lVhen driving on city streets it is necessary to havelsuf'licient light without blinding an approaching motorist or pedestrian. In order to accomplish this result, I mount the body portion 20 of the projector in such a manner that it may be revolved axially 90 degrees which positions the deectors 23 thereby directing the light rays downward the full width of the roadway and preventing any rays from passing above the plane of the top of the projector, which is usually about 37 inches above the roadway and too low to blind another motorist or pedestrianV approaching. The projector is mounted on top of the frame 32 ofthe running or go signal 15 by means of a band 33 which passes around the port-ion 2t) and has its ends secured to the sides of the, signal 15 by screws 34 which when tight hold the projector firmly, but which may be loosened permitting the projector to be rotated to change the direction of the rays. This signal operates in conjunction with the customary stop signal on the rear of the car and controlled by the brake pedal to be lighted when the stop light is burning and to extinguish when the stop light is extinguished. As it is customary to displaya red light for danger' or stop, I employ green Celluloid thinness of the 35 in the signal-15 to designate that the car Y is being stopped and it is safe to pass in front of it.

The signal together with the projector is mounted on the fender 12 of the car by any suitable bracket 36 which will permit of slight adjustments 'vertically and horizontally.

It will be obvious to those skilled. in the, art that various changes may he. made in my device without departing from the spirit. o t' the invention and therefore I do not limit myself to what is shown` in the drawings and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: l

1. A light deflector for traffic lights comprising a series of comparatively thin metal plates having concave reflecting surfaces and convex non-reflecting surfaces, and fianges on the straight edges of each of said plates, y

and flanges on each plate to reinforce the same, substantially as set forth.

4. A traffic light for automobiles comprising a cylindrical projector, a reflector, a source of light, a lens, and light deflectorsl comprising a series of cylindrically curved parallell plates with their axes parallel with said projector, said plates varying in width and havin" reflecting concave surfaces and non-refiectmg convex surfaces and integral flanges on each plate, substantially as set forth. I

5. A traffic light for automobiles Acomprising a cylindrical projector, a reflector, a source of light, a lens, and light deflectors comprising a series of cylindrically curved. parallel plates, ay cage for holding said plates, aligned openings in said cage, wires attached to the corners of said plates and adapted to enter certain of said openings. and means such as solder fm confining said wires in said openings, substantially set forth. i

In witness whereof, I have hereunto Viet my hand at Ann Arbor, Michigan. thi.` thirteenth day of August, A. I). nineteen hundred and twenty-six.

NEIVTON S. BEMENT. 

